Real Life Application: Peppermint

“I used to think peppermint was an ‘old person’ flavor when I was a kid,” a colleague recently remarked. “Now I’m hooked.”

Surely, we have all felt similarly toward some food as we were growing up, before our taste buds evolved. As children, with our freakishly high tolerance for sugary syrups, we typically opted for bubblegum over spearmint. Our only foray into Mint City was for the Girl Scout cookies, rather than hot tea.

If it’s been a few decades since you tried peppermint, I suggest you do it now. It’s delicious! And good for you.

A cross between water mint and spearmint, peppermint has shown promise to alleviate a number of health conditions, most notably irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). According to a New York Times health blog, “The peppermint plant has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy. It is thought to have the ability to relieve some gastrointestinal problems by blocking the flow of calcium into muscle cells in the intestines, which in turn reduces muscle contractions.”

However, the University of Maryland Medical Center warns of possible interactions peppermint could impose on a compromised intestinal system:

“Do not take peppermint or drink peppermint tea if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD: a condition where stomach acids back up into the esophagus), or hiatal hernia. Peppermint can relax the sphincter between the stomach and esophagus, allowing stomach acids to flow back into the esophagus … By relaxing the sphincter, peppermint may actually worsen the symptoms of heartburn and indigestion.”